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The biggest reason I'm happy about this: while Starlink currently cooperates with local governments, that's not a technical limitation, and a flip of a switch w
by JoshTriplett 2y ago
The biggest reason I'm happy about this: while Starlink currently cooperates with local governments, that's not a technical limitation, and a flip of a switch would let every cell phone in a country have unfiltered connectivity. That's a powerful tool to have readily available, the next time an oppressive regime tries to prevent people from communicating and reporting.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoYes, North Koreans are clamoring to use this. /s Things like this are paraded around as helpful for people in oppressive regimes when in reality they're more useful for building a bigger surveillance state in the West.
- menacingly 2y agothey seemed to enjoy the internet access in russia
- jack_pp 2y agoDo we have evidence musk wants to help the state with surveillance? The real use case is having connectivity in remote areas imo
- threeseed 2y agoSpaceX has been building a spy network for the US government for a while now: https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/musks-spacex-is-building-spy-satellite-network-us-intelligence-agency-sources-2024-03-16/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/musks-spacex-is-bui...
- jack_pp 2y agoDevil's advocate here but global spying isn't the same as surveillance state. For in country surveillance there's enough CCTV to not even need satellites
- protocolture 2y agoKind of is. All the five eyes have reciprocal agreements to trade data. If they cant legally watch you another nation probably can.
- kortilla 2y agoSpying on foreign countries for the US gov is not the same as spying on citizens of foreign countries and providing that information to their government
- lxgr 2y agoI'm really a big fan of the technology, but even I have to admit that it can most likely be used for surveillance just as easily as it can be for providing legitimate cell service. Cellular protocols have a very bad security track record, and this is built on the exact same standards.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 2y agoYou don't need to want to. If you have the data you can be subpoenaed for it.
- wahnfrieden 2y agoMusk has controlled access per political aims, and is also in close contact with Putin and US intelligence, so why do you feel this tech will be anti oppression?
- typewithrhythm 2y agoBecause it's something that didn't exist before that could be enabled. Even if Musk only does it when it suits him it's still an overall improvement.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- carlosjobim 2y agoStarlink is providing internet for the Ukrainian government since the beginning of the war, which they gave away for free until the US government started paying for it.
- inemesitaffia 2y agoIran and Venezuela
- BadHumans 2y agoSomething tells me Musk is not going to be on the side you think he's going to be on in that scenario.
- mschuster91 2y agoMusk not, but the US government actually has powerful levers at its hand to force his cooperation if necessary. If all things fail, arrest him and nationalize his assets. It's not the first time someone who thought themselves to be above the law got eventually rear-ended by it - remember Al Capone, they got him on tax evasion in the end. There are only three known entities to have bested the US government in many decades - Vietnam, Scientology and the Taliban. Musk is better advised that it's a foolish attempt to become the fourth one.
- deadbabe 2y agoWhat if Musk becomes a Scientologist?
- adolph 2y agoMars does have the largest known volcano in the solar system.
- catlifeonmars 2y agoWhat makes you think the US government will be on your side?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- Mountain_Skies 2y ago[flagged]
- carlosjobim 2y ago
- threeseed 2y agoStarlink needs to interface with a local operator which you as an end user need to have an account with. So a government could easily block this. Also the bandwidth is too limited to allow every cell phone in a country to have access.
- lxgr 2y agoThey don't technically need to do that – that's only necessary because they don't have any spectrum themselves, nor the required telecommunication service licenses. I guess GP is alluding to the fact that they might choose to just ignore these facts in some cases.
- JoshTriplett 2y agoPrecisely. They've already talked about the capability to relay satellite-to-satellite, rather than relying on a ground station near the user.
- cronycapitalism 2y agoProvided Musk sees a positive ROI to flexing that particular muscle, of course
- lxgr 2y agoIt would also be a blatant violation of international law and set a precedent for all kinds of undesirable things. Would you enjoy waking up to propaganda blasted to your phone as a non-silence-able "Presidential Alert" in retaliation?
- inemesitaffia 2y agoStarlink in Iran and Venezuela
- lxgr 2y agoDoes it really work in Iran? That would be a US embargo violation on top of an international law one, right? I suppose they could make the case that it’s technically infeasible to limit their satellite beam footprints that granularly (like it used to be the case for non-spotbeam services), and that their service limitation works on the basis of billing addresses, not physical cells – except that they seem to be very capable of enforcing that to distinguish mobile from stationary plans, and ocean from land areas.
- inemesitaffia 2y agoYes. They've lost at least two lawsuits at the ITU. The US has granted SpaceX a sanctions waiver.
- dogma1138 2y agoWhich international law this violates? People spew this international law nonsense too much. If there is convention that has been signed and ratified by member states there is no law….
- protocolture 2y agoIt is a technical limitation lmao. The internet is still down here. Starlink is a network managed by humans who live on planet earth. And the starlink constellation is constantly replacing satellites lost to attrition. Lets say he flipped that switch, anywhere else but the US. They would: Ban Starlink devices for the sake of it. Block / Filter Starlink IP Addresses. Shut down Starlink ground stations, and tear up telco licenses of anyone who does business with them. Reallocate the frequencies Starlink pays to broadcast on, likely heavily deteriorating the service. Arrest anyone affiliated with Starlink in country. If they did it in seppoland they could go one better and just prevent new satellite launches. Heck, he shut down starlink in Ukraine because he is on board with Putin. You arent magically free of earthbound constraints, you just have a new one, Musk.
- secondary_op 2y agoGosh you delusional or brainwashed on "rule based world order", where "cooperating with local government" in your statement in reality means "while foreign government behaves like our vassals and country is our colony". What this tool allows US state is to circumvent foreigns government sovereignty and ultimately, directly guide people through communication channels via psychological operations. By inverse(contradiction), observe what happens with TikTok, Huawei or "Chinese ballons" within US borders.
- khushy 2y ago[dead]